USU also had two players honored during the league's preseason meetings as senior center Tyler Larsen and sophomore linebacker Kyler Fackrell were both named to the league's 25-player preseason first-team.

HONORS: College Football News Sophomore Honorable Mention All-American (2013); All-Mountain West Second-Team (2013); Phil Steele First-Team All-Mountain West (2013); College Sports Madness Third-Team All-Mountain West (2013); Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week (11/2/13); College Sports Madness Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week (9/27/13; 11/2/13); College Football Performance Awards National Linebacker of the Week (11/2/13); Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American (2012); First-Team All-WAC (2012); WAC Defensive Player of the Week (10/5/12; 10/13/12); College Football Performance Awards Honorable Mention National Linebacker of the Week (9/21/13; 10/13/12; 10/27/12).

UTAH STATE: A very special player... Is an extremely athletic, fast, long-levered linebacker that can play both the pass and run... A physical player that is a tenacious pass rusher... Originally signed with USU in 2010.

RECORDS: Ranks tied for ninth all-time in USU history with 125 career interception return yards... Had 99 interception return yards as a sophomore in 2013 to rank 10th all-time at USU for a single-season... Returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown against Hawai'i (11/2/13), which ranks as the third-longest interception return in USU and Mountain West history... Has six career double-digit tackle outings.

2013 (SO): Started all 14 games... Named an honorable mention Sophomore All-American by College Football News and earned second-team all-Mountain West honors as he finished the season ranking first on the team with 13.0 tackles for loss, tied for first with two forced fumbles and second with 5.0 sacks, while ranking fourth on the team with 82 total tackles (37-solo, 45-assist)... Averaged 5.9 tackles per game to rank 35th in the Mountain West... Also recorded three quarterback hurries, recovered one fumble, intercepted one pass and registered one pass breakup during the year... Had a career-high 13 tackles and tied his career-high with 2.0 tackles for loss against BYU (10/4), and had 11 tackles at San José State (9/27)... Was named the Mountain West's Defensive Player of the Week and College Football Performance Awards National Linebacker of the Week following USU's 47-10 home win against Hawai'i (11/2) as he recorded nine tackles, including 0.5 for loss, to go along with an interception return of 99 yards for his first career defensive touchdown, which ranks as the third-longest interception return in Utah State and Mountain West history... Scored his first career offensive touchdown against Weber State (9/14) on a 4-yard reception to become the first Aggie to score an offensive and defensive touchdown in the same season since 1964 when Earsell Mackbee had four receiving touchdowns and two interception returns for touchdowns... Had six-plus tackles in six games during the season and recorded at least 0.5 tackles for loss in 12 games... Was named College Sports Madness' Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week following USU wins at San José State and against Hawai'i, and an honorable mention national linebacker of the week from College Football Performance Awards following the USC (9/21) game as he had four tackles, forced a fumble and tied his career-high with 2.0 sacks.

2012 (RS-FR): Started all 13 games... Earned first-team all-WAC honors and was named a Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American as he finished the year ranking second on the team and eighth in the WAC with three interceptions (0.23 pg), third on the team and 13th in the WAC with 8.0 tackles for loss (0.62 pg), and fourth on the team and 13th in the WAC with 87 tackles (6.7 pg)... Those 87 stops rank tied for third all-time at Utah State among freshmen along with Jake Hutton who had 87 tackles in 2005... The single-season school record for tackles by a freshman is 123 set by Del Lyles in 1988, while Terrance Washington registered 93 tackles as a redshirt freshman in 2003... Finished second on the team with seven quarterback hurries, to go along with 3.0 sacks and three pass breakups... Had a career-high two sacks against San José State (10/13), as USU set a single-game school record with 13 sacks in the contest, and 0.5 sacks against both Texas State (11/3) and Idaho (11/24)... Blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt against New Mexico State (10/20)... Forced and recovered a fumble against SJSU... His three interceptions came against BYU (10/5), UTSA (10/27) and Toledo (12/15) in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl... Returned his interception against the Rockets 16 yards, his interception against BYU eight yards and his interception against the Roadrunners two yards... Recorded double-digit tackles four times during the year, including in back-to-back games against BYU and San José State with 10 and 11 stops, respectively... Had a season-high 11 tackles against Utah (9/7) and tied that total against both SJSU and Idaho... Had at least five tackles in eight games during the year... Had a career-high three quarterback hurries against UNLV (9/29)... Is the first player in school history to be named a FWAA Freshman All-American and was just the fourth freshman in school history to earn first-team all-conference honors... Earned WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice during the 2012 season in back-to-back outings against BYU and San José State, marking the first time since 1996 that an Aggie freshman has earned WAC Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks... Was also the first WAC freshman to earn the award in consecutive weeks going back to 1999... Was named College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) honorable mention National Linebacker of the Week following games against SJSU and UTSA... Was one of 32 players, including defensive end teammate Jordan Nielsen, named to the CFPA National Freshman Performer of the Year Watch List.

2011 (RS): Redshirted during his first season at Utah State.

HIGH SCHOOL: A four-year letterwinner at Mesa (Ariz.) High School... As a prep senior, saw action in three games at quarterback and 11 games at wide receiver, as well as playing all 14 games at linebacker... Earned 5A-I all-region and all-Mesa Tribune honors on both offense and defense in leading the Jackrabbits to a 9-5 record and runner-up finish in the 5A-I state playoffs, Mesa HS's first 5A state championship game appearance in 17 years... Posted 68 tackles (25-solo, 43-assist) with eight pass break-ups, two interceptions and one forced fumble... On offense, tallied 36 receptions for 662 yards (18.3 ypc) with five touchdowns and a season-long of 63 yards... Also had 22 rushes for 159 yards (7.2 ypc) with three touchdowns and a season-long rush of 97 yards... Was also 22-of-38 (.579) passing for 334 yards (15.2 ypp) with four touchdowns and one interception... Had a 97-yard touchdown run, tying the second-longest rush in school history, which came on Oct. 2 as part of his 103 rushing yard outing along with four catches for 65 yards, earning him the U.S. Air Force Team Player of the Week award... As a junior, also earned team's MVP award after starting at quarterback, safety and kick/punt return specialist, along with 5A-I all-region honors... Also earned 5A-I all-region honors in both basketball and volleyball, and was a four-time letterwinner in basketball and a two-time letterwinner in volleyball.

PERSONAL: Son of Darrell and Lori Fackrell... Has two sisters and one brother... Majoring in business administration... Married Elizabeth Luke in October, 2013... Name is pronounced Kie-ler Fack-rull.